Under a Mask
by MahNati
Summary: In which hiding behind her Sheik persona is the only way Zelda can have a more or less decent conversation with anyone outside of the battlefield and spends most of her time locking herself in her room. After all, who would ever want to deal with such a horrible mess of a fighter such as herself? (For Paradigm of Writing's "Comfort Zones Do Not Exist in Writing" contest)


**So this is my entry for Paradigm of Writing's contest "Comfort Zones Do Not Exist in Writing". Just as a heads up, I'm sorry for Zelda being OOC in here.**

* * *

"I can't believe you won at the last second by bouncing into my head!"

"If you didn't want to lose, then you should have stayed out of the way."

"You were too fast, I thought you would miss me!"

"Then it's your fault."

"Dammit, Sheik! Even with new moves, you're still so much better, it's kind of ridiculous."

Sheik gave a shrug of shoulders and offered a hand to her opponent, showing good sportsmanship after an intense five minute battle in the Lylat Cruise stage. Little Mac took off his boxing gloves and shook her calloused hand in resentment. He was tired of loosing battles to the mysterious woman, always forgetting to stay in the middle of the stage because he couldn't fight in the air to save his life and trying to fight on the ledge, where he could easily fall off from the platform. It wasn't a good idea, but it was kind of hard having to keep his cool when Sheik kept leaping from place to another until he found himself on the ledge again.

That woman could be such a monster in the battlefield. He heard it was hard to beat her on a 1-on-1 battle, yet a guy could dream. And get beaten repeatedly.

"It was still a good match. That uppercut punch of yours is not to be taken lightly, I thought I was done for a moment."

"Heh, thanks a lot," a smile formed on the corner of his lips as he pulled out his other glove. "Well, I'm gonna go play poker with Peach, Marth and Yoshi. You wanna come with me?"

"No, thank you. I'm feeling pretty tired and need a hot shower," she waved her hand and walked away.

"Aw man, you sure? You never accept any of our invitations, you know?"

"Sorry, Mac, I'm just not in the mood for playing. Maybe next time."

"You always say this," he sighed. "Fine then. I'm sure I won't see you again, so g'night."

She nodded and head her way back to her room on the second floor of the mansion, the trip back feeling more like a long journey to her sore feet. Sheik passed by one Smasher and another on the way, though she didn't stop to greet anyone, as she didn't feel the need to. After what seemed an eternity, she reached her room and entered.

"Finally."

After a long day of battling, she could relax for a while. Being away from the other Smashers was usually the moment she felt the most at ease with herself and she intended to enjoy every second of her alone time. The fighter went to look at herself in the full body mirror that stood by her wardrobe's side, a habit of hers before changing. Her body definitely wasn't the most feminine one, lacking curves and the overall delicacy most women were expected to have, instead being fairly muscular and slender, with narrow hips and slightly broad shoulders.

No wonder newcomers had a hard time telling her gender.

That didn't matter at the moment. Sheik would not get annoyed over pesky details. That was "her" time, and she would not let those thoughts bother her. With a flick of her hand and taking a deep breath, she enveloped herself in a bright aura, letting go of her worn out battle clothing to gain a more casual pink dress. Her body started to change, the curves that she lacked starting to show up, although very subtly, and her long, blonde hair losing its braid and gently falling to her middle back. But perhaps the biggest change was in the color of her eyes, going from a strong red to a soft blue in a matter of seconds.

Zelda sighed in relief. Finally some time alone…

"Oh, you are back early."

She cringed at the voice that came from the door. Oh, couldn't she enjoy spending one moment of peace without her roommate sticking her nose in it? Honestly, now, so rude.

"Hello, Zelda."

Zelda turned around and faced directly the girl that entered the room, the sense of unease growing back on her, as per usual. She saw her roommate take off and throw her tiara on her bed and untie her braided hair, a sigh of relief escaping from her mouth as she combed her silky brown locks. Every night the same routine. She would sit on her bed, ask about her day, maybe even comment on her ranks and compare them to her own, always pointing out how envious she was of her strength and agility, while not really meaning it, because that was not really her style of fighting.

Neither was Zelda's, but hey, being Sheik was a huge advantage that made her climb the ranks. All her weaknesses suddenly disappeared, being replaced by all desirable qualities people wanted in a warrior.

An advantage that the Zelda in front of her could never dream in obtaining.

"So, how was your day?"

"It was fine, nothing that special," she sat on her bed. "What about yours? Why are you here so early? Weren't you going out with Link?"

"Oh, I am," she gave a shy smile. "We're meeting in an hour, a little before dinner starts."

"Well, have fun out there. I will be spending the night here again."

The other Zelda gave her one of the most pitiful looks she had ever seen, which made her blood boil. She would not show her irritation, though. Zelda knew better than to just act in an imprudent manner because the other Zelda had the habit of annoying her just by staying in the same space.

"What is in your mind?" she asked.

"You always spend your evenings here, all by yourself," the other Zelda said, her voice showing unwanted pity. "Aren't you tired of this? Don't you ever get lonely?"

"No, not at all."

"I don't understand how you can live like this."

"Like this how?"

"I never see you interacting with any other smasher, except in battles. You are always all by yourself here in our room..."

 _My room. This was my room before it became ours._

"I wish you would open up to people more. I get worried about you sometimes," the other Zelda continued. "Isolating yourself like this isn't good for you."

"Zelda, you don't need to worry about me, I'm completely fine," she fidgeted her fingers, her back slumped over and her eyes avoiding hers. "Go have fun with Link. There is still a book I need to finish, so it isn't as if I don't have what to do."

"Are you sure..."

"Yes, Zelda. Go have fun."

The other Zelda took that as her cue to leave and decided to let her roommate be. It seemed that, the more the days passed by, the more distant they grew apart. It wasn't saying a lot, since they never got to be really intimate friends to begin with, but she still wished she could help her somehow. Living alone like that, even in a mansion full of people, it must be a pretty depressing existence. Either that, or she did have a social life and she was very good at hiding it from her. It could be very well be both cases.

Zelda took a deep breath as she saw the door close and her room be occupied by the blissful silence once again. Being around that other Zelda seriously made her skin crawl. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was back in the Brawl days, nowadays she tolerated her a lot more, yet still that weird grudge of hers was persistent and refused to go away.

To be fair, it wasn't the other Zelda's fault that she was in her current position. If anything, the only one to blame here would be herself.

Back when Melee started, Zelda had a rather unique gimmick that differentiated her from the other fighters: she could transform into Sheik and keep changing battle strategies whenever pleased her, which made guessing her every move something very tricky to do. One moment she would be casting powerful magic as Zelda, the other, she would be punching and kicking as Sheik. It was a great idea at first, to keep switching identities and styles, until the tournament started to gain pace. People were starting to catch on her strategies and things got difficult for her. Compared to most fighters there, Zelda was incredibly weak. The magic she so much relied on proved to be not that good or strong against a lot of her opponents, and it became a common sight to see her being thrown off the stage like she was nothing.

Not so much when she fought as Sheik, though. As Sheik, she was invincible! Strong and fast, ranking higher and higher the more she used her persona instead of being herself, taking away the cheers of enthusiastic fans and even swoons from some of them, it was the perfect solution for her poor performance problems. Sheik was a strong, noble warrior, Zelda was a graceful and mellow princess. Zelda thought that, at least, she could be useful as Sheik.

Apparently, so did Master Hand.

When the Brawl tournament was about to start, she got introduced to the other Zelda, the one that currently had her position. Zelda was not delusional, she knew why Master Hand wanted to replace her. This reincarnation had much stronger magic than her and was a lot more skilled, being able to hit her opponent's sweet spots with air kicks much better and being an overall tougher and more serious fighter.

Zelda was not delusional. She was ready to pass on the flag and move on, no matter how much she wanted to stay.

Except Master Hand had other plans for her.

" _Zelda, you are the only one that can transform into Sheik," the big hand explained when he called her in his office the day she met her. "In that Zelda's time line, Sheik was not even a figment of her imagination."_

" _Isn't she capable of using her magic to create a Sheik persona now?" she asked, rather surprised at that bit of information. "Surely, with magic this strong, she can..."_

" _She… Wasn't created with this power," Master Hand admitted in shame. "I couldn't copy this ability into her like I did with you. I couldn't copy a Sheik that never existed."_

 _Uh, now that was new. "I will be honest, I don't understand how cloning Smashers works, but I will believe you," she crossed her arms and rested her back on the red velvet chair. "Where do you want to get with this?"_

" _I want you to participate in the upcoming tournament as Sheik. You and the other Zelda will switch places in the middle of battle and it would be just like in Melee."_

" _I am not sure about this..."_

" _Zelda, people love Sheik. She's a huge fan-favorite and there might be a severe backlash if she's suddenly cut out," Master Hand pleaded. "I know I cannot force you to stay, but please! Stay and fight as Sheik! People love her."_

And that was what she did. She stayed and assumed the Sheik persona wholeheartedly, only to transform back into Zelda when she was alone.

Honestly, despite loving how strong she was in the battlefield, being Sheik could be tiresome sometimes. She never felt like interacting with other Smashers because of it. Of course, she could always appear in public as Zelda, it wasn't as if people, especially the veterans, didn't know who she was and that there was more than one Zelda in the mansion. She just never felt comfortable with herself around those people she once considered her family anymore, it has been so long since she got to have a decent conversation with any of them. Not to mention that the binder she used made her chest start to ache after five hours of use, so it was also another good reason for her to return to her room earlier.

Zelda shouldn't be there. She should have been kicked out since the end of Melee. Sheik was what kept her there, and so she would act like it.

And so she spent the rest of the night locked in her room, devouring a book she had already read and wonder how she would force herself to fall asleep before the other Zelda arrived. She didn't feel like going to grab dinner anyway.

Fortunately for her, sleep came a lot sooner than she expected.

* * *

Unfortunately for her, she woke up with the first ray of the sunrise in the next morning.

"Gnnn, is it already morning?" Zelda muttered with her face buried on her pillow.

Well, shoot, now she had to come up with something to not die from boredom. Activities in the mansion usually started around 8 AM, and nothing interesting happened before that. Nobody would be awake to…

Nobody would be awake at this hour!

What was she complaining about? She had the mansion for her to walk around alone without having to use the Sheik persona. What a great opportunity for her! Zelda quickly got up from her bed and put on her pink cotton robe, ready to head out of the room.

But first, she stopped to check on the sleeping Zelda on the bed by her side. She seemed rather peaceful and…

Was that a hickey on her neck? The night must have been fun.

Alright, that was getting creepy. Zelda left the room before she felt even weirder for watching her other self sleep. Despite her initial complaint, the morning was indeed beautiful, with the sky outside almost with no clouds and the warm rays of sunshine passing through the arc windows of the large corridor and soaking her pale skin in a faint golden light. She should make that a habit.

"Goddesses, this feels nice," she murmured.

She would see if she could get something to eat. With her skipping dinner, she found herself pretty hungry now. So, in swift and silent steps, Zelda took the marble stairs to the ground floor and headed towards the kitchen. Maybe she could make her some tea while she was at it, it's been so long she had a cup.

However, as soon as she entered and noticed the fridge already open, Zelda froze on her place, her breathing suddenly becoming short and fast and her face growing paler. Standing there, searching for a protein shake, was Little Mac, already wearing his usual training attire and looking like he had been up for a good time already.

"Uh, who..." Little Mac asked once he spotted Zelda near the door. "Are… Wait a second."

Zelda turned around and prepared to leave, arms hugging her stomach and face as red as it could get. How could she have known he was such a morning person? He should be asleep like everyone else!

"H-Hey, wait a second!" the boxer called out for her. "Zelda, right? You're the Zelda that battles as Sheik, aren't you?"

"Yes," she mumbled. "Good morning. I must go now."

"Wow, I don't think I ever saw you without your Sheik costume!" his voice showed genuine amazement. "You don't look like Sheik at all, besides your hair color!"

"That's the point of a disguise."

"Ah, well, I guess it is," he gave an awkward laugh. "But still, it's so cool to see you with your real look! I… Uh… You're really pretty, y'know?"

Zelda wanted to bury a hole on the ground and jump right into it. She could feel her ears burning up and her chest tightening in nervousness, while her hands clutched her stomach even more and her shoulders tensed. Mac apparently noticed her discomfort, because his cheerful act suddenly dropped at the sight of her not bothering in turning around to face him.

"Um, that was all of a sudden, wasn't it? Sorry, didn't mean to weird ya out."

"U-Um, no, it's quite alright," the princess scratched her arm. "I'm j-just surprised to see you up this early."

"Sheik… I mean, Zelda, are you okay? Do y'need something? You don't sound so good."

She felt a lump on her throat. "I'm fine," she whimpered. "Listen, I need to leave. Have a good morning."

She bolted out of the kitchen, ignoring his pleas for her to stay. How she regretted ever leaving her room like this! Now Little Mac would look her in the battlefield with other eyes. Instead of a mighty warrior, all he would see was the frail and weak mess that she was. She couldn't even strike a conversation with him like a normal person. What was she even doing there?

Goddesses, that was absolutely ridiculous. She was absolutely ridiculous. Why did she ever leave her room? What if Little Mac decided to tell the others how pathetic she was outside of the Sheik persona? She couldn't even strike a normal conversation with him without shaking like a leaf.

Zelda walked even faster, still making sure her steps were silent, because the last thing she wanted was to wake up even more people and have them see her returning to her room in that condition, and finally reached her room.

"Um… Zelda?" the other Zelda mumbled as she heard the door opening and closing. "What are you…?"

"Nothing."

She saw her blonde counterpart taking off her robe and going back to her bed, her mind still in a daze from waking up just now.

"Is something the matter?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"Nothing."

Her voice made her sound like she was choking, yet she couldn't tell what was going on with her due to her face being turned away from her. "Zelda?" she asked, now more awake.

"I'm tired, I want to go back to sleep."

The other Zelda sighed, but didn't say anything else. Insisting would do no good for neither of them. When she was ready to open up for her, she would listen and take her in with open arms. For now, she could just hope Zelda had pleasant dreams.

* * *

 **Wow, can't believe I got to finish this. So yeah, I have this idea that the Sheik fighting in Brawl and 4 is actually Ocarina of Time Zelda, which can also be a good explanation as to why there is a separate slot for her in the most recent game. I originally wanted to end this fic on a happy note, with Zelda explaining her feelings to Twilight Princess Zelda and telling her why she couldn't open up to other people after spending so much time hiding under the Sheik mask, and eventually getting better from her social anxiety, but this is a "get out of your comfort zone" contest, and I'm already too damn comfortable writing about happy/bittersweet endings, so this is a sorta new thing for me (at least when it comes to SSB stories, because my NiGHTS fics all end up in tragedy, all two of them).**

 **This one shot's universe takes elements from some other of my stories. The Smashers here are clones created by Master Hand, which explains why Zelda was so fearful of being kicked out of Smash and the other Zelda not having the ability to transform into Sheik (even though she never did that in Twilight Princess either) like in "Self Support", they live in the Smash mansion just like in almost every other fic of mine and Samus and Palutena are dating, like in "The Way She Acts". The last part is not relevant to this story in any way, I just like to point out that they are my otp and people should write about them more, because that would make me really happy and giddy.**

 **Originally I wanted to write a horror story involving Lucas, but the more I wrote, the more I knew I wouldn't be able to finish it in time, because if I wanted it to be good, the fic would need to have more than one chapter and I knew I wouldn't be able to finish it in time. I still plan on writing it, though. I'm just not going to use that story for this contest. The last time I wrote horror was almost six years ago, and that story was labeled more as an angst/tragedy fic, than as an actual horror.**

 **Anyway, good luck to everyone participating!**


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